Chapter 6: Mystifying Matriculant
Roxanne leaned against the chrome exterior of the shool building, hugging herself and resting her head back casually. Her breath was visible in the crisp morning air, coming out in slow puffs as she inhaled and exhaled in a steady rhythm. Half asleep, her eyes drooped and she started to slide down the wall. Abraham, sitting on her shoulder, tapped her a few times before she fell into a real slumber; she woke with a jolt and corrected herself, hugging her sides tighter. "Thanks," she let slip the word, groggy. She didn't usually talk to Abraham with gratitude anymore, not since she came to terms with him being a robot with fake feelings. She decided to end the friendliness after that, to not grow any more attached with the false friend. She was too tired right now to remember that, however, and didn't even realize she had thanked him for rousing her. Abraham knew better than to reply, knew better than to say "You're welcome," lest she realize the error of her ways and send him a glare that caused his circuits to shiver. He shouldn't have to be thanked anyway, it was his job. He was a minion, and should be treated as such.
The human teenager walked away from the wall to stand on her own two feet, hopefully to prevent anymore dozing. She was tired, and for good reason. Now instead of waking up and walking to shool at a time when she and the shoolshuttle would arrive at the same time, she woke even earlier. Now she arrived a good 30 minutes before anyone else showed up, which allowed her to be the first through the doors when they opened, so she could effectively avoid everyone on her way to her first class. It gave her time to truly be by herself which she greatly appreciated, but it also left her snoozing where she stood more often than not. Still, she thought as she yawned, better than ducking and dodging in the halls.
The star-rise shined directly in her face, causing her to turn away or go blind. Igneefe's light set the fog around her glowing and dispersing in the sudden warmth, and she wondered if Earth's Sun had ever been so bright before it imploded.
"Abraham, what's the time?"
"7:59, Ms. Ritchi."
The doors should be unlocking any second now…She heard the signature "click!" of the door's unlocking, set to automatically do so on a timer, as soon as she finished the thought. Roxanne slipped out of the warm golden rays and into the cold illumination of the building, making a b-line to her wall-pocket.
The walls were lined with cushiony puckers, each with a small keypad where a password would be punched in. Once the password was entered, the pucker would open wide like a mouth to a pocket hidden in the wall where a pupil's supplies would be kept. Once Roxanne reached hers, though, it was her own mouth that opened wide. "What! Oh, if I find out who did his, they're going to have a crater for a face!" She punched the wall. Someone had covered both the pucker of her wall pocket, and her keypad, with what appeared to be slime or some kind of sparkly adhesive. She touched it experimentally and shuddered, "Ugh, gross, what is this stuff? It's going to take forever to open my pocket now!" And today had started off so good too! Why can't things be easy for once?
She dashed to the restroom for a wash cloth. Simple things like wash cloths than towels were the same on Caelumar as on Earth, Roxanne supposed some inventions were just universal that way. Once back, she scrubbed vigorously at the ooze, knowing better than to ask Abraham to do it for her, unless she wanted a teddy bear covered in sticky stuff.
Looking back at the entrance she groaned seeing the shoolshuttle had arrived and that the halls would soon swarm with blue people. She worked harder at removing the gunk, but the stuff was impossibly stubborn. Groups were starting to file in, dread filled her chest. Her situation was just asking for someone to make it worst. Come on come on come on, come off before someone gets any idea- "Ah!" Suddenly someone ran past her, shoving her into the wall and successfully gluing her there by the front of her shirt. The person kept running, cackling. "Haffreck it!" She growled the curse, which meant 'to wish the absolute worst upon something or someone', trying to detach herself from the wall so she could chase after the wise guy. Haffreck was the closest one could get to saying damn on this planet, since concepts such as heaven and hell were nonexistent.
She punched her password into the partially uncovered keypad, and the pucker widened, tearing the glue from her clothes just enough so she could remove herself; the rest spread over the mouth of the pocket like a thin shimmering membrane. Roxanne pushed her hand through and tried to grab her belongings as quickly as possible, but not quickly enough. The pucker was pulled back shut by the straining slime and clamped down on her arm. She gasped and staggered where she stood, "Ow! Ow ow ow, oh ouch, aaaaggh!" She hissed breathlessly, punching her password in back in with a rush of fingers. Eventually she freed her arm from the trap. That was sure to leave a nice bruise ring below her shoulder.
Catching her breath, Roxanne clutched the electronics she retrieved to her side, where there was the least amount of glue clinging to her, then turned on her heal ready to sprint down the hall to the class she was already unnecessarily late too. Her blood was boiling, already pushed to the edge in less than 15 minutes. She was positive the next thing that happened to her would make her snap. She didn't make it far before someone rounded a corner and she slammed into them. The two bodies collided with a loud smack! It caused Roxanne to fall backwards landing hard on her butt, and to drop her things, which Abraham dutifully caught before they clattered to the floor.
The person she rammed was more fortunate, and was caught under the pits by their minion – a round specimen of a fish with glowing parts and an impressive under bite floating in the dome of a full robot body. It looked like it had something to say for a moment, until it looked at the cause of the crash and simply gapped at her in silence. Her eyes squeezed shut and she grit her teeth, something akin to a snarl ripped from her throat. She was up in a flash, her hands fists. "That is it! I am up to here with people tormenting me today!" Her eyes glittered and she looked like she was about to tackle both the stranger and their minion, that was, until, he opened his eyes and looked up at her with utter shock and confusion. Her mind derailed from whatever train of thought it was on, and suddenly all Roxanne could think about was the color green.
She blinked, staring into emerald orbs. Oh my goodness, his eyes, they're so green. I've never seen eyes so green before. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen green eyes before. I …I'm staring at him like an idiot aren't I? The red in her face from her anger had faded, but now she was blushing. She looked down, her long brown hair forming a curtain to hide her face. She was suddenly quiet. "Sorry, I'm sorry…" She muttered almost to herself, walking quickly around them and vanishing. The green eyed boy just watched her go.
"Who…was that?" He wondered out loud to his minion.
"I- I don't know, Sir." The fish stammered, "What was that? A-and the thing on its back?"
"I don't know, Minion." He replied with a smile, absent mindedly brushing glittery goo from his clothes "But I want to get to know her."
Who was that? Roxanne had been thinking about her run in with the green eyed boy for the remainder of the day. It was now about time to head home, but she couldn't help wondering if she'd run into him again. Green eyes! I didn't even know green eyes existed! She wouldn't admit to it, but she had been mystified. He must have been a new pupil, though she didn't remember hearing about any newbies coming. Not so surprising, no one ever told her anything, what did she expect?
She was on her way back to her wall pocket now; she hoped the goop had dried by now so she could scratch it the rest of the way off. She did a double take when she saw the green eyed boy using a pocket two pockets away from her own. She stared at her feet and continued to walk, veiling her face with her hair, hoping to be approached and hoping to be ignored by him at the same time.
Roxanne winced and her heart fluttered when heard him walking toward her as she returned her things to the miniature cavern in the wall, the glue flaking. "Sorry about earlier, I wasn't exactly sure where I was going really. I'm new here. Are you –" She heard him talking at her before being cut off by an all-too familiar voice.
"Aahh~ you must be the new matriculant. My name is Vivinie, and you are?"
He turned toward her in surprise at the interruption, but remained polite. "Oh. Um. Hello, I'm Nigmadem."
Nigmadem! What a unique name!
"Nigmadem? That's quite a unique name. Not very traditional, hmm?"
"It's an old name. A very old name. Nigma for short, if you prefer."
"Nigma it is then. I see you've met Roxy. You don't have to worry yourself with her, Nigma, she's not worth your time."
Nigmadem quirked a brow and crossed his arms, glancing over at the fascinating girl for a moment, still arranging things in her wall pocket. He seemed uncomfortable talking about her like she wasn't there, she noticed.
"Is that so? And why isn't she worth my time?"
Vivinie smirked and her violet brown eyes shown with humor, "Well, I mean, just look at her! And her intelligence is everything but extraordinary. She'll cause you nothing but grief, it's in her nature."
"Well – Vivinie was it? – I thank you for your very much unwanted opinion; however, I usually only trust what I learn through my own observations, so, if you don't mind, I think I'll waste my time in whatever way I wish." Nigma turned away from a stunned-silent Vivinie and back toward the girl called "Roxy", only to find she had slipped away. He frowned. Then forced a smile at Vivinie, waved good bye, and walked towards the exit where his minion was already waiting outside for him. He found his minion talking to another minion, a thick purple eel that looked too big for his dome. He was still too far away to hear the conversation.
"Minion? Your name is Minion? You're a minion named Minion." The eel said in a disbelieving tone.
"That's correct!" Minion replied with a smile.
"That's only slightly ridiculous."
Minion frowned and tapped together metallic fingers, but kept a smile in his voice. "Okay, well, um, what's your name?"
The eel puffed up and grinned, "My master named me Tasslers."
Minion gasped in horror. "Tasslers! Your name is Tasslers? I'm so sorry!"
"I'm not sorry! It's a perfect name for a minion."
"How can you take pride in a name like that? You do know what that name means, don't you?" Minion asked, dumbfounded.
Tasslers growled, "Of course I know what it means! That's why it's perfect! It's better than Minion, who on Caelumar name's their minion Minion?"
"A very good Master, that's who!" He growled back, defensive. It was then he caught Nigma's eye. "And speaking of Masters, here's mine now. Good bye Tasslers and have a fine rest of the day!" He spat out the pleasantry, and then walked over to his master.
Nigmadem's expression was curious, "What was all of the spatting about?"
Minion rolled his eyes "I'll tell you some other time; today has been full of surprises."
"Phew, you can say that again!" He agreed.
"Sooo….did you get to get to know her, Sir?" Minion prompted with a hopeful toothy smile. It disappeared when he heard his master sigh.
"No, Minion, I didn't get to get to know her, I was interrupted by someone." He pouted, thinking about the violet eyed girl. What was her name again? "But tomorrow!" He continued, pointing a finger to the sky, "tomorrow will be different!"
"That's the way to think, Sir!" Minion encouraged, "What do have in mind?"
"Well, Minion," Nigma replied in all seriousness. "We're going to arrive at shool even earlier, and to start off, I'm going to walk up to her, and say 'Hello'."
"Excellent plan so far, Sir."